


can't keep my hands to myself

by LadyAlice101



Series: Tumblr prompts [4]
Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Nightmares, Post Season 2, implied PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-30 19:33:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11470248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAlice101/pseuds/LadyAlice101
Summary: The first time Lucy has one, he’s cleaning his gun. He gets up to try to get to her so fast, he falls over. When he arrives to her room, he scans it, gun first, and realizes quickly enough that there isn’t anyone there with her.Even though she has them several times a week, he never lets his guard down; never assumes that it’s a nightmare causing her screaming.**tumblr prompt from anon:Lucy has a bad nightmare( screaming out in her sleep etc) and Wyatt comforts her after realizing she's safe. No smut please





	can't keep my hands to myself

Wyatt’s no stranger to nightmares. 

He had them frequently enough following his return from the war, and then again after his wife’s death. He knows how paralyzing they can be, how real they can seem, what they can do to someone’s mental state. 

He’s never had to help someone else deal with them, though. 

The first time Lucy has one, he’s cleaning his gun. He gets up to try to get to her so fast, he falls over. When he arrives to her room, he scans it, gun first, and realizes quickly enough that there isn’t anyone there with her.

Even though she has them several times a week, he never lets his guard down; never assumes that it’s a nightmare causing her screaming. 

They’ve had a long day; they sprung Flynn from prison the day before and travelled halfway across the country to get back to Oakland today. When they’d arrived, Mason had the Lifeboat waiting to go for them, eagerly bouncing on his feet. 

Lucy had turned heel and retired to her small and vaguely private quarters before she could hear Christopher’s dressing down for breaking out Flynn. 

By the time Lucy starts to scream, he, Rufus, Flynn and Mason have settled by a small fire in the corner of the warehouse. 

Mason and Rufus flinch, but have heard this many times by now. Flynn, however, is unprepared, and so jumps up and gets his gun out faster than Wyatt does.

“What’s happening?” Flynn asks lowly. 

“It’s probably a nightmare,” Wyatt answers. “I’ll get her.” 

Flynn nods hesitantly, then sits back down. Wyatt turns and goes into Lucy’s room, prepared and guarded as always. 

As predicted, it’s a nightmare; Wyatt puts the safety back on his gun and puts it back in its holster. 

She’s thrashing wildly, and he has to grab her hands so they don’t hit him. 

“Lucy,” Wyatt says firmly, “Lucy, wake up. Wake up!” 

“No,” she whimpers, “no, no, please, no! Mom? Mom!” 

He kneels on the bed, then pins her hands between his elbows and waist, and shakes her shoulders. 

She wakes with a start, and pushes against his shoulders wildly, panting heavily. He steps back, and holds his hands up. 

“It’s me, it’s me, Luce.” 

She stills but then starts to cry, and he sighs, “Oh, Lucy,” and kneels back on the bed and gathers her in his arms. She cries against his chest, hands fisted in his shirt. 

He rubs her back and keeps her cradled to him. 

“It was awful,” she whispers against him. “How can they expect us to get back into that machine?” 

He doesn’t reply, just sighs again and rests his head atop hers and continues to sooth her. 

She pulls back a bit and looks up to him. She’s still crying, her hands still twisted in the fabric of his shirt. Suddenly, she shoots up, desperately connecting their lips together. He’s pretty startled, honestly, but starts to kiss her back slowly, closing his eyes. 

She moves faster, moving a hand to around his neck, and it only makes him more hesitant. 

“Please, Wyatt,” she whispers as pulls away. “Just – please?” 

Her fist tightens further, pulling his shirt down a bit, and she presses a kiss to his collarbone. Their lips connect again, but he grunts and pulls away. 

“Lucy,” he whispers, bringing a hand up to caress her face and wipe away her tears. 

“I – I’m sorry,” she says quietly, turning away, embarrassment on her face.

“Hey, hey now,” he says gently, his arm snaking around her waist and pulling her back towards him. 

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” he says. “Believe me, I do. Just … just not like this. Okay?” 

She sighs and closes her eyes, still looking away from him. 

He waits several minutes, still holding her close to him. He thinks about asking her what her nightmare was about – he’s gotten enough information from her in bits and pieces to put together a rough picture of her family and what went down with her mom, so he can pretty much figure out what it was probably about – but he knows that for quite a while it just helped that someone was there to hold him and reassure him that it wasn’t real, that everything was alright. 

To have her screaming like that, though? He’s never heard such a noise from her when she’s awake, so he can’t even imagine what would make such a blood-curdling scream erupt from her during her sleep. For now, though, he’ll hold her, comfort her. 

She eventually closes her eyes again, but he figures she can’t be comfortable enough to sleep properly, so he starts to shimmy down. 

Her hand, which had fallen slack, comes back up to tighten in his shirt again. 

“Will you stay with me anyway, please?” Her voice is soft and breathy, and he could deny her nothing, let alone when her voice is still scratchy from her tears. 

He smiles and presses his lips to her hair, then continues to move the two of them down. He pulls the covers over them, and wraps an arm around her waist, her back to his chest. She entwines their hands, and brings them to her lips, so the back of his hand is against her mouth. 

He whispers into her hair, “I wouldn’t dream of leaving.” 

Against his hand, he feels her smile.


End file.
